Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

Method

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Halve the pumpkin or squash, peel, deseed, then slice into 1cm slices. Toss with the oil in a roasting tin, season, then roast until tender and slightly charred at the edges. This can take up to 40 mins.

Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. In a pan, soften the onion in the oil for 5 mins, then add the celery and garlic and cook for 1 min more. Add the tomatoes and sugar, then leave to simmer, uncovered, for 30 mins. Stir from time to time. You should be left with a thick purée. Season to taste.

Put the spinach in a saucepan with the water that still clings to it after washing, cover and put over a medium heat. Wilt the spinach for about 4 mins – you’ll need to turn it over with tongs every so often to make sure it all comes in contact with the heat at the bottom of the pan. When completely wilted, leave until cool enough to handle, then squeeze the water out with your hands. Chop and put in a pan with the butter. Gently heat, tossing together so the spinach is coated in butter, then season with salt, pepper and a generous grating of nutmeg.

For the béchamel sauce, bring the milk to the boil in a pan with the peppercorns, onion and bay leaf. Set aside for 5 mins to infuse, then strain the milk into another pan. Add the flour and butter, then gently heat, whisking all the while, until you have a thick, smooth sauce.

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and assemble the lasagne. Butter a large gratin or baking dish, roughly 1.4 litres in capacity. Put a layer of pumpkin in the bottom followed by a layer of tomato sauce. Lay lasagne sheets on top of this, cutting them to fit if necessary (you don’t want any overlapping). Now add a layer of béchamel followed by a scattering of spinach and half the cheese. Top with more lasagne sheets, pumpkin, tomato sauce, more lasagne and a final layer of béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Bake for 40 mins, or until the lasagne is golden and bubbling.

Is pumpkin healthy?

Recipe Tip

Diana says...

'It can seem like a bit of a faff to make, but
nothing elicits more sighs of comfort than
a lasagne, and if you make the component
parts on different days the task becomes
easier. This is both sweet and earthy. Use
a well-flavoured pumpkin such as Crown
Prince, or butternut squash. If you’re going
to freeze it, leave the Parmesan off the top
until you want to put the lasagne in the oven
and defrost completely before cooking.'

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Comments, questions and tips

I normally make everything from scratch but decided to try this recipe using a jar of Baresa lasagna tomato sauce and a jar of lasagna white sauce. I didn’t bother buttering the spinach and just grated and seasoned it as I layered it up in the lasagna. It was still delicious and much less faff and washing up than making the bechamel and tomato sauces. Not for the purist but worked well for a speedier version mid week and nobody would know you hadn’t made it all yourself!

annadis

1st Oct, 2017

5.05

Delish. Next time I will double the amount of tomato sauce. Did one layer with aubergines I'd baked in the oven. Used dried lasagna sheets but soaked them first in single layers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Time consuming but fun to make.

fairyclairey1

12th Sep, 2017

3.8

Very tasty and my non-vegetarian husband enjoyed it too! This is the second time of making, so this time I doubled up the tomato sauce and will freeze half for another day, saving on prep time. Nothing is difficult in this recipe but it does create a lot of washing up. Great to prep ahead though.

studentcook146

30th Apr, 2017

3.8

I cooked two decent portions by halving everything and using 1 tin of chopped tomatoes. I used dried lasagne so cooked the tomato sauce with the lid on to increase the moisture. I cooked it for 30 min and the under layers were perfectly cooked but the top was a bit crispy. Anyone any advice on how to prevent this? I didn't find the need to strain the milk, just took the bay leaf out as I used ground pepper. I substituted a bit of cinnamon for the nutmeg. I pre cooked the butternut squash (with skin on) and the tomato sauce to reduce the prep time.

floozeygirl

8th Mar, 2017

5.05

Adapted this for my vegan daughter, diary free grated & soft cheese for the topping and added Vitalite to the spinach instead of butter. Pretty time consuming but definitely worth the effort. Absolutely delicious!!

MrsP2015

24th Jan, 2017

5.05

Loved this recipe. Very tasty and enjoyable to cook. Does take a long time to prepare but well worth it. Also easy to follow instructions. Can't wait to cook again. Thanks :)

little_lady

18th Nov, 2016

3.8

Really tasty and enjoyable! Prep time a bit longer than stated but worth the effort. This is my first year of cooking with pumpkin and found this to be one of my favourites.

bjabbot

3rd Nov, 2016

5.05

Great flavour

cliffsboy

31st Aug, 2016

Been making this recipe for the past 4 years - Delish!. Usually double up on the pumpkin/squash. Gave the recipe to a friend 2 years ago after treating them to my cooking of it, and on meeting her recently it was one of her 1st topics of conversation. And it freezes well. Cut it into portions and wrap each in foil.

Coolkets81

19th Jun, 2016

5.05

Absolutely delicious recipe. My hubby hoes not usually like to eat vegetarian main meal but he totally loves this lasagne. Will definitely make it again.

Pages

Hello - love the look of the recipe! I am hoping to make this, but won't have much time after work - do you think I could make the night before? And if so, would you put it all together, bake it, then warm it up the next day - or just assemble all cooked parts, leave in the fridge, then cook completely on the night?

goodfoodteam

6th Sep, 2017

Thanks for your question. You can assemble the dish and then refrigerate it to cook the next day. You might want to add 5 mins to the cooking times as it will be fridge cold unlike in the recipe.

MG19

21st Apr, 2016

I am hoping to try out this recipe for a special occasion. I was thinking of making some garlic bread as a side, and some sort of salad. I was wondering if there was a particular salad which may work well with this dish? I don't usually have a lot of salad in my life, so I am a little stuck. A salad with green leaves, pomegranates and some squash was suggested to me, do you think these flavours would be suitable accompaniment? Thank you.

goodfoodteam

22nd May, 2017

Thanks for your question. As the lasagne already has squash in it, we'd suggest going in a different direction for the salad. Our bitterleaf salad would make a nice contrast to the sweetness of the squash:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1905/bitterleaf-salad
Or for a little kick, try:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12988/zingy-courgette-and-spinach-salad
Due to the richness of lasagne, we think simplicity is best. The suggestion below sounds super!

Lililuca

16th May, 2017

I have made this lasagne with a salad of rocket leaves, sliced beef tomatoes, mozzarella and red onions, a scattering of basil leaves and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. The salad on it's own is quite delicious, but with the lasagne....bellissima

Be the first to suggest a tip for this recipe...Got your own twist on this recipe? Or do you have suggestions for possible swaps and additions? We’d love to hear your ideas.

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